Europe Fails as LNG's Market of Last Resort in 2017, US Imports Light

摘要

LNG imports into Northwest Europe took a 25% nosedive in the first six months of 2017, according to data compiled by NGW sister publication World Gas Intelligence. Gross imports, excluding re-exports, into the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands totaled around 3.5 million tons, down from roughly 4.7 million tons in the same period of 2016. That left the region's five terminals operating at just 7% of their combined annual capacity of almost 50 million tons. Still, LNG imports into Europe as a whole rose 15% in the first half of the year to just over 23 million tons, according to shipping specialist Clarkson Platou, with global trade up 13% year-on-year at 144 million tons. Some of the increase came as southern European countries scrambled for cargoes during a prolonged cold snap early this year.